Just minutes into the Redskins' first drive on Sunday, it seemed as if all the energy had been sucked out of FedEx Field.  

While advancing the ball nicely on the Skins’ first drive, starting quarterback Robert Griffin III awkwardly fell to the ground after completing a 19-yard pass to Desean Jackson (who was also injured in Sunday’s game). Griffin’s leg folded beneath him as he tumbled out of bounds on a non-contact play, and the Redskins franchise quarterback laid spread out on the sideline motionless.  

As an NFL fan, you never want to see your franchise quarterback go down, but for Redskins fans, the situation seems all too familiar. Since Griffin’s arrival into the NFL in 2012, the mobile quarterback has been no stranger to injury.

Just a few minutes into Sunday’s game against the Jaguars, there was certainly a sense of optimism amongst the home crowd.  A new season!  This is the year!  Our quarterback is finally healthy...or not.  As Griffin got carted off the field, that sickening feeling lay right in the gut of every NFL fan. 

But guess what, Washington fans? In what is being diagnosed as a severe dislocated ankle, RGIII’s injury may turn out to be one of the highlights in your franchise’s history.  

Welcome (potentially) to the beginning of the “Kirk Cousins Era”. 

SEE MORE: Roger Goodell Safe Behind The Shield

Let us not forget RGIII’s sophomore year in the pros - the guy sucked.  In fact, “sucked” might be an understatement.  The guy was so bad, he led an abysmal Redskins squad to a horrid 3-13 record and a last place finish in the atrocious NFC East.  

It may be extremely premature of me to write off RGIII as an elite QB in the league, or even as an above average one.  Let’s not forget Griffin’s star-studded rookie year, in which the versatile quarterback capped off a remarkable second-half of the regular season to lead the Skins to the playoffs.  

But let us also not forget that the Redskins started off that season at 3-6 before getting hot late.  

Now I know how difficult it may seem to Redskins fans to suggest that their backup quarterback may indeed be a more viable option than their supposed franchise quarterback.  After all, there’s a reason that RGIII is the starter. He must be better, right?

But maybe RGIII isn’t even the better option.  Ex-Redskin quarterback and Super Bowl champ Joe Theismann (widely known for his graphic, career-ending injury) said during the preseason, “Kirk Cousins has played much better at the quarterback position than Robert Griffin III has… if there was a quarterback competition, it wouldn’t be a competition. Kirk Cousins would be the man.”  

However, in the eyes of Washington fans and owner Dan Snyder, Griffin is untouchable.  To them, he is the messiah of football in the District. His weird socks and flashy play style will lead the Skins to the Promised Land for the first time since 1991.  After years of torture watching the likes of Mark Brunell, Jason Campbell, and Rex Grossman, this romanticized idea seems enchanting to the sorry fanbase.    

After suffering severe knee ligament damage in a Wild Card loss to the Seahawks in 2012, Griffin has not only been plagued by injuries; he's been a completely different player.  

Many analysts note that RGIII has lost much of his pure athleticism since injuring himself and that his decision making hasn’t been the same (probably due to efforts of minimizing risk).  

Now it may be too early to rule out RGIII’s return to form, and I agree.  However, it is not too early to suggest that Griffin may never be able to lead the Skins to the Super Bowl, simply because he won’t be able to stay healthy enough to keep himself on the field.  

As of late, elusive professional quarterbacks are all the rage. Cam Newton, Colin Kaepernick and Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson have all been wildly successful in the league thus far.  Still despite their success, it’s hard to find any example of a successful quarterback in the NFL who has relied more on his legs than his arm - and all of the names mentioned above are indeed elite pocket passers.  

All of the greats of the last decade - Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers - are all defined by their phenomenal passing skills in the pocket.Michael Vick, whose style of play is greatly similar to RGIII’s, is a perfect example of a player whose career was defined by injuries - and jailtime for murdering dogs, but that's another story.

Whether or not you think Cousins is the better option, he is undeniably the safer, healthier option.  So hey, why don’t we give this Cousins guy a chance?  After all, his first pass today was a touchdown!  After completing his first 12 passes of the game, Cousins took advantage of an uninspiring Jaguars defense, completing 22 of 33 attempts for 250 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He controlled the game today, leading the Redskins to a 41-10 romping of the Jaguars.

As head coach Jay Gruden noted, “Kirk’s had a great training camp and a great offseason…Kirk has been waiting patiently for that opportunity to play, and now he’s got it.”

Many will immediately argue that Cousins has already had his chance, filling in for the injured RGIII last season.  Cousins’s performance during this three-game stretch was underwhelming, losing all three of the Skins’ final games and tallying more interceptions than touchdowns.  Though it seems unfair to judge Cousins off this small sample size, especially since the inexperienced quarterback was destined to fail, leading a team that already had no playoff hopes.  Cousins has shown glimpses of brilliance (like this week), but again, his career has thus been too small of a sample to truly measure.  

In no way, should we be celebrating the injury of a high profile but highly mediocre quarterback. I’m simply suggesting that his alternative may not be so bad after all. In fact, Griffin may be healthy enough to start next week, making this entire ramble completely irrelevant.

However, if RGIII can’t make it onto the field in time, let’s just give this Cousins guy a shot.  Maybe he turns out to be the real gem of the 2012 draft.

Contact Garrett Schwartz via e-mail and follow him on Twitter.